West Estate

They are frozen in place, stagnating without any direction. Around them, things change rapidly.

Hong Kong and Taiwan are 2 islands inextricably linked by their huge neighbour. Modern metropolises full of eastern traditions, they're forging forward in the 21st century as China's little dragons. Traveller Megan McCormick begins her journey in Hong Kong, looking out at the incredible skyline from Victoria Peak. She then takes in the contrasts of the city before taking the ferry visit Tap Mum Chau and Lantau Island. After a flight to Taiwan she explores the capital Taipei, ending her trip with a visit to its most remote outpost - Orchid Island.

In this special edition of Globe Trekker Chinatown, Lavinia Tan, Justine Shapiro and Megan McCormick travel worldwide to explore the magic and mystery of Chinatowns across the globe. Lavinia Tan begins the journey in Malaysia and Singapore where overseas traders led the earliest migrations of Chinese people. The journey continues from there to the United States, where Justine Shapiro visits San Francisco. Megan McCormick explores New York s Lower East Side, home to the largest Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere. After a short trip to London s Soho district, Lavinia Tan ends this journey with a visit to Hong Kong exploring the world famous film industry and the 21st century migration of Chinese back to their homeland.

Journey with the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic and their conductor Sir Simon Rattle on a breakneck concert tour of six metropolises across Asia: Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei and Tokyo. Their artistic triumph onstage belies a dynamic and dramatic life backstage. The orchestra is a closed society that observes its own laws and traditions, and in the words of one of its musicians is, “an island, a democratic microcosm – almost without precedent in the music world - whose social structure and cohesion is not only founded on a common love for music but also informed by competition, compulsion and the pressure to perform to a high pitch of excellence... .” Never before has the Berlin Philharmonic allowed such intimate and exclusive access into its private world.

In 1980s Brooklyn, a resilient family, evicted from public housing, refuses to succumb to homelessness or welfare. Instead, they construct their own home-one scrap of discarded wood at a time.

When the Chinese Communist Party backtracks on its promise of autonomy to Hong Kong, teenager Joshua Wong decides to save his city. Rallying thousands of kids to skip school and occupy the streets, Joshua becomes an unlikely leader in Hong Kong and one of China’s most notorious dissidents.

Where do you go when the average home price is $4.5 Million, the cheapest freestanding house costs $1.8 Million, and you're 30 miles out to sea? Room For Us?: Confronting Nantucket's Housing Crisis invites audiences into the vibrant, diverse lives of Nantucket's year-round community as they grapple with the challenges of finding a home in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets. From those living on the streets to families making over $180,000 a year, Nantucket’s housing crisis cuts across all demographics, threatening the very fabric of society.

In 2017, twenty years after the British handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997, young people, more politicized than any previous generation and proud of their land, do not feel Chinese and actively fight against the oligarchs who want to subdue them to China's authoritarian power.

Choi Yuen Village faced demolition by the express rail project. In 2009, villagers protested and petitioned, sparking the anti-express rail movement. Despite their efforts, the railway plan was approved in early 2010. Forced to choose between leaving or rebuilding, they opted for the government’s land rehabilitation scheme to create a new village together. With volunteers, they searched for land in Pat Heung and fought to prove their status as farmers. Many outsiders misunderstood, believing the villagers received generous compensation and government help. Yet, it was the villagers’ shared determination and love for their land and way of life that carried them through, even as the once-barren longan trees bloomed again in 2010.

Beneath Hong Kong's glittering facade, Filipina domestic helpers work in relative anonymity and for near-slave wages. In a beauty pageant like no other, five helpers give themselves makeovers for a day and gleefully reclaim their dignity.

In such a difficult situation in Hong Kong agriculture, to local farmers, before expecting a good harvest, they have to first overcome the problems caused by agricultural policy implementation, land policy and urban development in Hong Kong. This film is about three middle-aged local organic farmers and their farming stories: A peasant leader, who faces political infiltration in organization, decides to quit and focuses on his farming; a rural woman who fights against North East New Territories development plan and taking care of her sick husband at the same time, decides to combine family life with her home farming; a sixty years old truck driver who decides to have a career change, trying to live a fearless and free life as a farmer.

After the failed Umbrella Revolution in 2014, lives go back to normal, but the scenes of the great protest are like yesterday for Billy and Popsy, students in the University of Hong Kong who took part in the movement. One of them now becomes a student leader, while the other chooses a low-profile life as a private tutor. Amid the rapid social changes, when the Communist Beijing government is extending their influence to Hong Kong to take away the freedom and democracy, how would the youths see their future? Do they still see hopes, when both peaceful protests and radical actions seem to be futile?

Talking to two fishermen made me realize I have never looked at Hong Kong from their perspective. Urban Diary tries to look at Hong Kong and see our shoreline from the sea. We filmed the two fishermen in action, getting on their fishing boat, experiencing fishing and looking at the ongoing reclamation of the harbour with them.

A crew of filmmakers shoot undercover on the streets of Hong Kong with hidden microphones and no permits. The city becomes a giant set as mounting tension and ego clashes push tempers to breaking point.

A naturalistic story about the realities of healthcare and houselessness from the perspective of Ramon Duarte, a houseless welder who receives care from Miami Street Medicine, a street medicine team. In Miami, where rising housing costs are forcing folks onto the streets, the doctor's work is more important than ever.